Page 18 of One Christmas Eve
She brushed by him before he could think of anything else to say, and when she got a can of whipped cream out of the fridge and set it on the counter with a thump they could probably hear a mile away, he figured he’d probably said enough.
“I’ll have a slice, too,” he said, letting it go. “Extra whipped cream, please.”
They ate pie and watched football. There was a lot of talking and laughing, but Preston could feel the tension between him and Zoe as if they were tugging against an actual invisible rope that bound them together.
It was almost a relief when the game ended and gave him the perfect segue for saying his goodbyes. Of course Joe had Zoe and Carly pack him up some leftovers to take home, and the smile Zoe gave him when he asked for a little more of the baked macaroni and cheese helped ease the ache in his chest.
“Thank you,” he said when she handed him a canvas shopping bag stuffed with plastic containers.
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes and he wanted to stroke her hair and tell her he was stupid and that they absolutelyshouldkiss again. And soon.
“That’ll tide you over for a couple of days,” Joe said, and the moment was lost.
He didn’t get a chance to say more than goodbye to Zoe, and to Noah and Carly, as Joe accompanied him out onto the front porch.
“I’m gonna see you at Abe’s holiday party next Saturday, right?” the older man asked.
“I...don’t know.” He hadn’t received any invitations that he could recall. “I don’t think I’ve heard anything about it.”
“He doesn’t send out cards or put up flyers. It’s just always been known that the second Saturday of December, all the locals show up at Abe’s for his Christmas party.”
“Oh. I guess I’m a local now?”
“You betcha.” Joe clapped his hand on Preston’s shoulder. “So we’ll see you there.”
Preston nodded and just assumed he’d be able to get more details about the party from somebody over the next nine days. Like who Abe was and where he lived.
He really would have liked to talk to Zoe alone again before he left, but it was pretty clear Joe had walked him out, so to speak, so he shook his hand and thanked him again for dinner.
Then he waved to the others, sharing a lingering eye contact with Zoe that left him feeling frustrated and wanting more, before getting in his car.
He was an idiot. There was no other explanation he could come up with as he drove the long dirt drive away from Zoe. He was a complete idiot.
Chapter Six
“I don’t get what’s going on with you and Preston.”
Zoe looked up from the magazine of book reviews she was scanning and made awhat are you talking aboutface at her cousin. “There’s nothing going on with me and Preston, which is probably why you don’t get it. Nothing to get.”
“You used to tell me everything.”
“There’s nothing going on. Thatiseverything.”
Carly’s eyes narrowed. “What happened? Because I don’t care what you say, somethingwashappening. Or was going to happen. And Thanksgiving was weird. Something changed.”
Zoe didn’t want to talk about it, so she shrugged one shoulder and looked back at the magazine. The words blurred and she blinked her eyes to clear them. Yeah, something changed. There was one amazing kiss that had ruined everything, but still kept her awake at night.
It was the first time a guy had broken up with her before they even started dating, and it not only pissed her off, but it made her sad. If he didn’t think they were compatible, why the hell had he kissed her like that? Yeah, she was mad about that.
But it was the sad part that really bothered her. She didn’t want to be sad because that meant she’d already become emotionally invested in the relationship and it hadn’t even really gotten off the ground yet.
“Zoe.” Carly took the magazine out of her hands. “He was totally into you. You were totally into him. Even somebody who hasn’t known you your entire life could have seen that. And at Granddad’s everything was fine and then all of a sudden, it wasn’t. I don’t know why you won’t talk to me about this.”
“Because I don’t want your stupid matchmaking urges involved, okay? We were flirting. A lot. And then, on Thanksgiving, we kissed in the kitchen.”
“Oh!” Carly grinned. “How was the kiss?”
“Incredible.”
